Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Nev Power has criticised what he calls "last man standing" expansion strategies by the major iron ore producers in the Pilbara while defending FMG's own expansion strategy.
The Business News annual export review has the latest data on 33 businesses representing $122 billion in outgoing trade. It also shows that while iron ore continues to dominate, the emergence of LNG, agriculture and services will benefit from a lower dollar.
If Western Australia's small iron ore miners thought all the bad news about falling prices was in the open, they got a shock this week when the two biggest producers, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, launched a war of words, complete with threats of fresh expansion programs.
The appointment of investment banker Michael Ashforth as manager of the Bennett family's $1.5 billion fortune highlights the maturing of Western Australia's private wealth market.
Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Marmion has announced that Western Australia will play a key role in settling global safety standards for emerging remote controlled mining machinery.
A joint venture between Viento Group and indigenous-owned Kimberley Pipelines has been awarded a $9.8 million pipeline construction works contract for the first stage of Fortescue Metals Group's North Star magnetite project in the Pilbara..
Chrysalis Resources has entered into a deal to grant Fortescue Metals Group exclusive exploration access and an option to buy the Chrysalis West Angelas Project Tenements.
FEATURE: A stubbornly high dollar, falling prices and high operating costs are combining to exert real pressure on smaller players in the iron ore sector.
FEATURE: Industrial uncertainty and an urgent need for more infrastructure are putting the squeeze on iron ore exports through Port Hedland, while productivity increases and transshipment options are also being mulled over statewide.
FEATURE: Mining sector players are creating innovative solutions – particularly in the iron ore, uranium, and base metals areas, and the graduate labour market – to deal with the changing economic environment.
Pilbara iron ore miner BC Iron has flagged lower production and haulage rates from its Nullagine joint venture operation with Fortescue Metals Group while initiatives are put in place to more efficiently process iron ore from the site.
Iron ore prices may have softened significantly from about $US130 a tonne during the past year, but that has not stopped local miners ramping up exports.
Mid-tier iron ore miner Mineral Resources has increased its full-year net profit by 28 per cent to $231 million, with the help of a 93 per cent increase in iron ore export volumes.
Fortescue Metals Group has awarded Perth-based Intellect Systems, a subsidiary of Resource Development Group, a control and engineering services contract for the first stage of its North Star magnetite project in the Pilbara.
FEATURE: Biotech and IT companies are enjoying renewed investor interest, but these innovative businesses are facing a changing capital raising market featuring less government support and, in Perth, a drastic shift in the venture capital sector.
Education Minister Peter Collier has embarked on a bold strategy aimed at reallocating his $4.6 billion budget among the state's 700 secondary and primary schools. It is a move fraught with political risk.
Western Australian based stocks rose 18.9 per cent in the twelve months to Hune 30, but most of the gains were in the first six months of that period, according to the Deloitte WA Index released today.
The Abbott government has published the long-awaited Forrest Review of Indigenous jobs and training, with wide ranging recommendations including a healthy welfare card.
The private developer of a 150 megawatt power station with contracts to Fortescue Metals Group has announced the all inclusive cost of the project will be $570 million.
FEATURE: Perth is in the middle of its biggest wave of office construction in decades, but a sustained burst of new supply means future prospects for commercial developers are increasingly bleak.
Sedgman's joint venture operation with Thiess has won a $64 million contract for the design and construction of a modular iron processing plant at Fortescue Metal Group's Solomon iron ore mine in Western Australia.
FEATURE: Takeovers are a powerful way of delivering short-term returns to investors, as the Total Shareholder Return data released by Morningstar and applied to 700 companies on the Business News BNIQ database.
Driving up the Great Northern Hwy from Midland to Port Hedland, you can't help but marvel at the number of trucks on the road – and be concerned about what lies ahead for wheatbelt communities after the closure of the ‘tier 3' rail lines.
Gina Rinehart has followed fellow iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest's lead and expanded her interests to include cattle farming, reportedly spending $40 million on a half-stake in two cattle stations
OTOC Australia has been awarded a $3 million contract with NRW for the mine process plant in-ground services at the Roy Hill iron ore project in the Pilbara.
Giving managers responsibility for making decisions relevant to their sections is crucial at marine services business TAMS Group, which has steadily added new capabilities and staff to differentiate itself as a full service provider in a market full of specialists.
Fortescue Metals Group has signed a contract with a Chinese shipyard for the construction of four iron ore carriers that are even larger than the Cape size vessels currently in use in the industry.
